Upgrade your suite at Wrigley? Available for a price

A longtime suite-holder at Wrigley Field admitted to being surprised by a recent letter he received from the Cubs.

The letter outlined "2011 Suite Upgrade Options." The basic package includes all new carpet, cabinetry, granite, painting and ceiling tile. The cost is $11,340.

Then there were "Optional Upgrades" that include $1,820 for new bar stools and two new interior TVs for $2,700.

The suite-holder, who asked not to be identified, said his company pays in the neighborhood of $200,000 for the 15-person suite. "And that doesn't include food," he said.

The idea of spending even more for renovations didn't go over well with this suite-holder.

"We already pay an incredible amount of money for the suite," he said. "We'll take a pass."

A quick check revealed none of the other teams in town has asked suite-holders to pay for renovations. Last year, the Bears installed hundreds of new LG TVs in the executive suites. The Sox did a major suite renovation at U.S. Cellular in 2007 that included new furniture, TVs and countertops.

I contacted Colin Faulkner, the Cubs' new vice-president for tickets and service, to get the team's perspective here. As always, there's more to the story.

Mr. Faulkner explained that last year an individual asked to upgrade a suite at his own expense. The Cubs haven't done a major renovation on their 55 suites in a while, but they said they do address items such as carpeting, painting and new TVs every couple of years.

"The company did a good job," Mr. Faulkner said. "Other suite-holders saw how nice it was and asked if they could do the same thing."

The response caused the Cubs to review their options. Renovating all the suites was on the table, but Mr. Faulkner said it didn't make sense to do it now.

"With the potential for an upgrade to Wrigley Field (occurring in what the Cubs hope will be sooner than later), this isn't the best time to renovate all the suites," Mr. Faulkner said. "It doesn't make sense to renovate now only to have to do it again."

However, if a suite-holder doesn't want to wait for the Wrigley makeover, the Cubs wanted to make the renovation option available.

Instead of suite-holders dealing with multiple contractors, the Cubs felt it was best to go through one contractor.

"We negotiated the price down with the contractor," Mr. Faulkner said. "We're not making any money off of this."

Mr. Faulkner said the response has been favorable thus far. He was surprised when I told him I had heard some grumblings from suite-holders.

"We would have gotten more feedback if we had raised the price of the suites X percent," Mr. Faulker said. "Suite-holders aren't required to do this. But if it is something they want to do, great. It is available to them."